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Talk:PrincessTard/@comment-168.70.32.135-20180619110327
Artwork critique Form Title of artwork: Starry Night Year: 1889 Artist: Vincent van Gogh Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 73.7cm x 92.1cm ' '''Van Gogh uses different shades of blue for the night sky, while using yellow and white with varying intensities to represent stars. He uses brighter colors with a dark background in order to give a better contrast between the stars and the sky. Van Gogh uses darker colors and tones on ground objects, such as the background hills with a dark shade of blue, as well as dark green for the tree in the foreground. Buildings to the right of the tree have a color akin to concrete, which is light grey. The night sky consists of swirls and an overall wavy appearance to it, while depicting natural forms with curved lines, including the tree, which has a regular pattern of coiled lines leading to the tip of the tree.. Houses have an artificial shape to them as opposed to curved lines that make up the trees, hills and sky. The artist presents the stars as luminous, bloated balls of light that are scattered all across the top portion of the painting. ' '''Content Starry Night is a landscape painting that depicts the night sky as seen by Van Gogh. There are stars in the night sky with a settlement and cypress tree in the foreground. The title influences the way we see the work by making the viewer concentrate on the sky instead of the ground. However, it isn’t a realistic representation of what the night sky should look like, as shown by the exaggerated sizes of stars. Perhaps the message that the artist is trying to communicate through this painting is that we should look up at the night sky more and not just the ground. Mood The painting seems to be arranged so that it evokes a dream-like state in the viewer. Curved and wavy lines that are spread throughout the artwork causes the viewer to follow a path through the painting in a repetitive motion, so perhaps it would cause the viewer to feel woozy after seeing it. Because of the way the darker colors are spread throughout the painting, it seems to create a really heavy atmosphere. In other words. The ground has a much darker value than the sky, thus creating a gloomy and depressing atmosphere. It is also reflected in the amount of turbulence and imbalance in the painting. The distortion in the sky and the cypress tree imply a turbulent mind. Context The way Van Gogh sees the night sky is different to ours, both literally and figuratively. There was very little light pollution in 1889, at the time he painted it. According to astronomical records and simulations, the bright “star” to the right of the cypress tree was actually the planet Venus. Furthermore, the night sky depicted in Starry Night isn’t astronomically accurate, as the Moon on the top right was actually in the waxing gibbous phase, as opposed to full moon. Conclusion Starry Night is a fine piece of art that is intended to evoke a dream-like state in the viewer, as they wander across the night sky. It is remarkable in a way that it doesn’t place much emphasis on terrestrial objects, but rather in celestial objects. This goes to show that art has no bounds whatsoever. However, it is lacking in depth and implied space. The sky looks relatively flat, while the ground has more perceived distance, although that won’t affect the painting overall. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Starry_Night